Ledger-account file.



s; LLI-woon.

.LBDGBR pccomr MLB, APLIcATIoN FILED SEPT. 25'. '1905.

Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET-L,

c. s. ELLINwoon LEDGER ACCOUNT FILE. APPLICATION FILED SEIT. 25,1905. i

Patented Sept. 1-, 19111A EUGEEFACUNT FIL-1E i,eeeeee,

Appuccfion exea septembeieoe. semi im esem-c.

To all 'whom may concern:

4 Be it known that l, -CLABENGE S. Emme woon, :i citizen of the UnitedStates, residing et Chicago, Cookeouxity9 llinoi's,.l1eve invened e'certain new enflyueeful Led cir- Account File, of which' the following'is ef specification,

This iicwernzioie4 relates toI means foi il'ing statements, bills o1''other evidencee of ec count, more particularly e ledger laccount withvthe result that the leclgei` account of 'any customer may be readilyand quickly ascertained amd the ordinary booke of ziccount dispensedwith.

Accorcl-ing to vthe jpiesenl embodiment. of`

my invention the erieng'ement is such that the file will not onlycontain the stetemente or selec slips loot else expose to 'View theledger eoeomit of eac-l1 customer Whenevepi such file is menipuleteil inthe meneer here inail-e1 described.

- Fig. 3 e, perspective of? one of che series of' partitioned lie file;Fig, e cleeil of one of tlie partitions; 5 e eleeil e poe tion of theplete in which 'lelie are pivoted; Fig. 6 en' eleveiion of e moeliiiedform of arrangement `of my account lilcs; nml Figg Y e sectionaleleveiici'i ci elle account Afiles Fig. 6.

Refeirng to elle preeen; embodiment the invenion es hei;

e illuo-ete, lie is formed ae a. 2me? compieiog e lice tom l, front 2',back 3, em' parallel pieces 47 euch licwer being efzmged Le be incertelen opening e euch es elle' cese 5 and in its peerred oim adapted tocoperete with such filing cese in the manuel' herjeixle'fte explained.En this conneoon it will be 'o foere'cocl thee the ailing cese eceeesenel 'o elle ieveiiiicn considered in. iss broeflei espec-'b andelse' from emi beck of elle diee in shown,

ci the bottoml of the drawer in eige comiecteil fio the 'bottom While'ehe eidepieces or strips l are likewise pvoelly, conneccecl ai, elicitencls to che from; enel beck respectively, with the result that thefacon@ f. end becleymay' swing to e position et en mgle co tl'e botcomin the manner illuef waited m Fig. l. It' is desirable tolimit thedegree of movement of the front emi heele with respect to the boeom en ohie ecdl f Stops o are provided formed ein or sec-meel to the boetom andarranged to be conte-cioe@ by the beck 3, thereby stopping elle letteres Well the front 2 ilii'ough the meuiiiy .elle 'comiecv'sing strips .le

ln the drawer' cool between lie sie-stcipe wg, 'Il is arranged e seriesof peititicns, 7r which, 'are speced; 'opefiz 'et theirv lower andyimlei* enfle eeflbhereec Aioivogedftoelle upper' eu'ey suitablemenneif. ln the preseneinsteecefy .gioi' in pierre@ foi which. @exposeeeclfl pair tice, which mcy be formeel of thin sheet rieml, iepirovicleal 'WiL-li. one ci' more letei'el' e@ ci' iigllt'engle; eers orloge 8 which eure ecwinged ge be peeee through @neef e Series ofhenevezrse 'Siete in ejp'lezc 9 eecoeel 'co elle botzom ci? deeefei wel'poeitonecl e A e if we' enel pemllel Wih'ifie elle lamer, es cleanlyindi L. lille Leeeuli: of chie comme@ gioii is the@ the pew'aicne eeepvctely cci occterl to lle leiaem of the drawer eed edepeel f doirmwei'ely se Fig. Il enel thereby to expose Jeliei ieegec- @ivefi'oie. e per eicel-ei n ei'lcler to specs, le uppei. ends 'f mieienseoimlijle ineens may be emp c en economical coioetrocion cliezc aregom-eed by eemuieg tongues lie ieely ci' he @elem 'F :euch @lleguespccjeeting ci. leigh@ eagles iioie and iii Mae ne diifecbioi'ie en lelcreby ec fece l'lejupp eiiee of soc 'b pefe'ence l of. come arepioviolecl oiilei to foi upper @i cated m l@ account file the single andthe double tongue -1 style may alternate. By reaspn of this constructionthe proper movement or sliding of the adjacent partitions as required inthe manipulation of the account ile is facilitated and improved, as willbe understood from the explanation hereinafter made. The tongues 10, inthe construction being described, constitute not only distance piecesbut also stops for the lower edges of the account slips such as theslips A in Fig- 1, such edges being lowermost when the filing device isin itsoperative position as shown in Fig. 1 but becoming the upper edgeswhen the filing device is in place in its case as in Fig. 2. lEachpartition is cut away on vits .right hand lower corner, substantiallyhalf-way of its width, so as to leave a projecting portion 1 1 at itslower left hand side or corner as clearly indicated in Figs. .1 and 3.This projecting portion is utilized for the purpose of-indicating orbearing-the indication of a customersname and for the purpose ofenabling such indication to be readily changed for different customers,it is preferred to provide such extending portion with a depression withparallel slits 12 through which a card bearing the customers name mayybe passed and held suitably therein. As will be obvious the name may beindicated on the partition in any suitable manner as by impressing thename thereon, writing the same directly thereon or on a piece of paperor the like 'aliixed thereto.

As hereinbefore stated the front 2 and back 3 of the drawer or accountdevice are pi'votally connected to the bottom 1 and suoli front'and backare in turn operatively connected to each other by means of the parallelconnecting strips 4 with the result that the movement of the front iscommunicated to the back and vice versa. Furthermore owing to thisrelative movement of the front and back with respect to the bottom ofthe drawer, the pivoted partitions 7 are enabled to take an angle oroblique position with respect to such bottom with the result that theouter or upper edges of the partitions will over-lap each otherconsecutively, in the manner clearly indicated in Fig. 1.

The account file being constructed as hereinbefore described, isoperated and manipulated in the following manner: Assuming that acustomer has bought a bill ofgoods, the items and amounts are written asusual on the original slip of amanifolding book of the usual and wellknown kind, and the total as usual is written in the lower right handcorner. This original slip which goes to the cashier or bookkeeper inthe store is thereupon. placed in the account file upon the partitionwhich bears the name of the particular4 customer or purchaser of suchbill of goods, it being understood that the superposed partitionsA areraisedslightly by the o erator to permit the-slip to-be inserted tiereinand to take its place with its lower edge resting against the tongue ortongues 10 acting as stops. Each customer has his own space orcompartment in the account file and' the particular compartment isindi-` cated by his name placed or aliixed to the proper partition, inthe manneralready'explained. The original slip for each purchase ofgoods ordered by different customers is placed in its propercompartment, in the manner above stated, it being understood that whenthese slips are in place and the account file is in its operativeposition indicated in Fig. 1 the outer edges of the parti# tions soover-lap each other consecutively as to exposeV the total or footing ofeach slip, in the manner indicated in Fig. 1. Itis thus evident that theamount due from each cus- ,tomercan be ascertained at a glance inasmuchas the footing or total is exposed adjacent the customers name. Assumingthat a customer makes a second purchase before' payment of the firstpurchase, the salesman, in addition to writing the items and amountsl onthe slip, will also examine the account file to ascertain whether thereis any unpaid balance and if such is the case he will4 add such oldamount or balance to the footing or total of the new items, which sumtotal will appear at the lower right hand corner of the slip. Thissecond slip is now placed in its 4proper compartment and abovepthe {irstslip with the result that said sum total, representing the full amountdue from the customer is exposed to the operator. This process isrepeated indefinitely, the account file being employed. as a ledgerwhich is always posted and is arranged to always exhibit the ledgeramount due.

The account file is complete in itself when constructed as alreadydescribed but as hereinbefore suggested, the same may be conven ientlyemployed in connection with a file case o-r cabinet, in which event itis preferred to provide means for pivotally connecting 'the lower outeredge of the filing case with the lower inner edge at the rear end, ofthedrawer, which may be accomplished in any suitable manner, with theresult that the account file may be held suspended in an obliqueposition from the cabinet or filing` case with the front 2 resting upona desk or support as may be desired. According to the presentconstruction, the inner end of the bottom of the drawer is provided withlateral projecting pins or trunnions 13 whichA are received withinparallel tracks 14. eX-

tending horizontally and rearwardly into the opening in the filing casebut closed at their front ends, with the result that when the drawer ispulled outwardly, the same is enabled to swing downwardly and is held'bythe closed ends of the tracks against entire removal from the filingcase. The front 2 of the. drawer may constitute' the closure of theopening in the filing case as indicated in Fig. 2, in which event suchfront or closure is provided with a lock or" latch arranged lto engagethe filing case to hold the drawer locked 'orsecured' in' place. In thepresent instance as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown a springlatch 15 o`f this construction which may be adopted although a lock,such as a Yale lock for instance may be employed to securely lock up theaccount file against inspection by unauthorized parties.

As is evident the file possesses'advantages over the usual ledgerinasmuch asit always. presents a posted account so'that thejamount ofthe ledger account or balance may be .ascertained in an instant'b simply'glancing' at the footing or total p aced opposite the particularcustomers name. Thus the account ile not onl .possesses advantages overthe usual ledger ook but is adaptedl to displace such book and renderthe same entirely unnecessary, the bookkeeping being performed in factby each salesman.

As hereinbefore suggested the filing case is not essential and the sameas a matter of fact may be entirely dispensed with and the account filemay thereupon be supported in any suitable manner and in any suitableposition. To illustrate this a modified form of construction andarrangement is shown in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings in which Fig. 6represents a front elevation of a series of the account files and Fig. 7a sectional elevation. According to this construction thesupport 16,corresponding to the base or support 1 of the'first described accounttile,

forms-the back of the tile while the artitions 7, in this construction,are positioned normally obliquely, exposing the footings of the'different accounts, that is the .ledger accounts of the differentcustomers. This iile is also provided with a top 17 and a bottom 1S andalso with a front closure 19 which may be employed if desired.

- 's illustrated in Figs. 2 and 7 the partitions are preferably provided.with elastic bands 20 for the purpose of holding the tickets or slipsin place on the partitions. 1. -I claim: i'

1. An account file comprisin a base having a front and a back pivotedtereto, a pair back, and a series of of parallel strips connecting saidfront and partitions pivotally mounted on said base.

2. In combination with a case or cabinet, an account tile of drawer formreceived by the case and when pulled out arranged to be i pivotalyconnected thereto, said account le comprising a base, a front and a backpiv'-l oted thereto, and a series of partitions ai'i ranged transverselyof the base and pivotally mounted thereon.

l `3. An account ile comprisin a base ra. plate secured to said base andsaving-paiallel slots, and a series 'of right'angled ears passing trough said slots and thereby pivoting said partitions.

4. An' account le comprising a base, 'ay

supporting late secured to said base, and having para lel slots, andaseries of partiplart-'itions having tions comprising tliin plateshavi'nprojections extending at ri ht angles vto e plane olfl saidplates, sai thrcu h t e slots in said supporting plate.

5. n account file com rising a base having a front anda bac pivotedthereto,

means connecting said front and back, stops for limiting the pivotalmovement of said Aof an account file of drawer formy receive by the caseand arranged to be .pivotally connectedthereto when pulled out, saidaccount filecomprising a base havin a front and a back pivotedthereto,stops or limitstopsfor limiting the pivotal moveprojections passing ingthe pivotal movement. of thefront and4 e back, and a vseries ofpartitions pivotally mounted on said base. I l

8. An account register. comprisin a series of normally superim osed anover-4 lapping separators, a per orated hinge retaining plate, and oneor more hinge members pro]ecti n :from one edge of each separator and trou h the perforations in said hinge plate w ereby said members arehinged to said plate.

9. An account register comprising a tray, a series of normallyoverlapping separators arranged in longitudinal rows, integral hingemembers on one edge'of each separator, and a hinge late provided with aertures throu h wgich said hinge mem 'ers project, sai

members in position. 10. An account re 'ster comprising a lurality of searator p ates having a p ura ity of integra yieldable hinge membersjecting from one edge thereof,and a hinge plate having apertures throu hwhich said hinge members project where y said members are rigidlyretained and the separator permitted to swing in the register.

CLARENCE S. ELLINWOOD. c Witnesses:

Si. E. HIBBEN, Louis B. EitwiN.

iic

plate being secured close to n the bottom of the tray to bind said hinge

